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A N K I N D 



DRAMATIC POEM 



By Jrl. TINTROF* 



PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR 



The Bancroft Company, Printers 
49 First. Street, S. F., Cal. 






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Copyrighted by H. Tintrop, 1890 



IVIANKIND 

Ha, mighty Lord ! Who am I ? 

What plan hast Thou Supreme with me ? 

What's the reason I am here 

Among tigers and monkeys ? 

And why am I created ? 

Are the groans of this breast 
Sounds of welcome to thine ears ? 
Is my misery thy pleasure ? 
Oh, why is it 
That ever I was reared ? 

Rise thou furious storm and rage ; 
Mystic fire touches me. 
Shall a worm, 

Down-trodden in the dust, 
Not even 

Manifest his agony, 
And seek a place of rest ? 



MANKIND 



That an innocent infant, being 

Thief or fool, 

Beast or angel might become ; 

The enraged Supreme has thrown it 

In scornful temper 
Poor and naked on the barren earth 

For some. 

So it appears in unconsciousness 
Among its equals, 
Whimpering the first welcome 

And weeping's fame, 
The only sign of entering 
Into life's doubtful game. 

Ah ! thou creature 

Full of faults, 
Something between high and low. 
Has been gifted meagerly 
By the Creator's scornful will. 
When He dispatched his messenger 
To spend all earthly gifts, 



MANKIND 5 i 

'I 

Quickly down j 

The angel rushed on cherub wings^ l 

And provided first | 

Some other things. .\ 

} 

He gave marvelous strength to the lion, i 

And bushy mane ; ■ 

i 

Soft feathers to the birds 1 

■i 

And swans ; j 

Every tree a useful bark ; I 

He clad the fish 1 

'j 

In golden scales, I 

And covered the tortoise with a shield ; | 

He gave also the moths j 

Their veils, ^ 



Having nothing left worthy to give 
When to the Creator's very image 

Prdud he canae 
But a nameless painful feelings 
Which is called 

Shame. 



MANKIND 



Without thinking, 

Without sorrows. 
Never knowing pain nor death, 
Feeds on evening and on morning 
Every dog 

His bit of bread. 
Only poor mankind — 

Oh, how grand ! 
Suffers death 

Without an end. 

This poor being 

Must always fear or know 

The bitter time. 
When silence calls and stops 

The twinkling of the brow. 

Only born, jumps so happy 
Every lamb around its mother ; 
Only born finds alone every chick 

Its bit of fodder. 
Only now the human child — 



MANKIND 

This fork beast, 

And perhaps 
The Creator's 

Most finished piece of work — 
Cannot move one step ahead, 

Nor talk ; 
Must learn first how to eat 

And how to walk. 

To-day, through necessity 

And imitation, 
It has only learned to walk and speak ; 
To-morrow it will measure stars, 

And pull the moon from distant skies. 
It dreams of everlasting charms, 
It prays in hopes and sighs, 
Studies on philosophy, 
And oversteps the solid wall 
Between time and eternit}^ 

Science's heroes and bigot impostors 
Lived savage-like — 



8 MANKIND 

Bloodthirsty and always in dispute— 
And Old Age's prophecy 

Did cry, 
Rooster-like, 

In the early morning sky. 

Shall I live forever, 

Or shall I die ? 
Has the spirit only for a time 

Borrowed his body ? 

Or am I a spook, 

To hide myself in myself. 

Fall back to earthly dust, 
To weigh no more than other likewise 

Stony crust ? 

Count up the fruits of knowledge. 
And our eyesight — 

Oh ! it is blind, 
Not even fit to look behind. 



MANKIND 9 

Our lovely pleasures 

Are only phases ; 
Our fabulous wisdom 

Is a wicked child ; 
One distant world, 

No one can tell, 
Connected with an earthly grave — 
Oh, horror ! stop — 
There is — the open space. 

On this side lingers an imposing monster, 
Monopolizes revenue, 

And holds a songster 
By trickery and cunningly displayed arts ; 
It claims a bridge of spider-web 

Its own. 

With threats of solemn prayers, 
Sacred songs and catechisms. 
This blue-blot is baptized everywhere 
In the mystic name, 

The God's religion. 



10 MANKIND 

It does tell you by loud-singing chorus 
This sole and secret bridge 

Is guaranteed for passage 
To reach the other distant shores. 

This is the artfully invented 

Spiritual feast, 
Whereby only mankind is deceived. 



And not the beast. ^ 



These animals have as a rule 
Their time in spring 

To play the fool, 
Where men through all their life 
Must enjoy a foolish burden, 
Which sounds like love or gayety, 
Oftimes betrays the youth, 
By dealing out sweet honey 

Mixed with poison, 
And decorates the life-long road 
With flowers 

Of a rarer sort 
For all to make it short. 



MANKIND 11 



Has a man escaped 

This constant murdering, 

Counts eighty years of life his own, 

Leaves enchantments all alone, 

To sign the bill of life, , 

Counts the gains to store away. 

We say. 

For happy hours, 

Some unknown day ? 
Then you will see that all he wins 
Is hardly worth 

A row of pins. 
One-eighth part ^ 

The childhood took 
Of his life's running term ; 
Another eighth passed away 
By old age's dizziness, 
Without feeling or enjoying, 
Without love and without kisses. 
Tired of life. 

He greets Death 



12 MANKIND 

As a heartily welcome friend. 
One-half his life sleep stole away, 
And in the rest 

Pain and sickness held their sway. 

Was the morning of thy life 
Too wet from flowing tears ? ^ 
Was the noon too hot for thee ? 
Oh ! the evening, gray old man, 
Brought instead of pleasing comfort 
Sorrows — 

And annoying sneers. 

Has so the farce play 
Reached its end at last ? 
Go around 

From house to house ; 
If only one is satisfied 
With his unchangeable lot, 
New hopes, new wishes, new pain 
Every coming day, 



MANKIND . 13 



One last wish, 

A silent grave, 
Is his hearths content 

And save. 



When neglected and unknown, 

Not a friend will lend his hand ; 
When only tears give charity 
To wet his daily bread, 
Lightning flashes 

Illume his gloomy day ; 
To him harsh voices cry : 
" Leave this world. 

And get yourself away— 

Away ! ■ ^ 

Look yonder there ! 

Spy and hear 
How they are talking 
Of their companion's better work. 
They criticise and measure all he does 



14 MANKIND 

Till they have found a wicked spot 

On a really noble deed. 
Ah ! then they smile and shake their heads, 
And chatter happy irony ; 
Call him crank, fanatic or infidel. 
Instead of praising this worthy work 
They shameless talk about its faults 
And scatter it in all directions, 
Like a merciless sea-storm does 

The defenseless flying gulls. 
Creatures only vile and wicked 
Are their passions' willing slaves, 
Without number, without name ; 
Jealousy, avarice and trickery, 
The vengeance— poison sore — 
Never leaves the poor insane. 

Claws and teeth are beastly weapons ; 
For men are 

Looks, words, poison 
Saws and daggers 

Made to strike. 



MANKIND 15 



When the woeful sights 

Of poor creatures' huts 

Drive my blood to stir and twist ; 

When the youth is made a slave 

To enrich k miser beast : 



When I part with my small offering 
To save the needy 

From distress ; 
When I would like to sacrifice 
One-half I do possess, 

God, thou knowest 

My earnest feeling ; 
My thoughts appeal to Thee ; 
But eyes of marble gaze on me 
And believe it not — 
Call it Arrogance, 

Pool's play and romance, 



16 MANKIND 

When the creeping misery 
Undermines the faithful worker's home, 
Under Pluto's blood-red flag so bold, 
A murderous villain 

Gathers heaps of clinging gold ; 
When honor and pure womanhood 
Gets exchanged for silver trash ; 
When high birth and shining metal 
Do protect a crime brutal, rash ; 
When a judge gets freely served 
With wine and sumptuous meal 
To interchange his goddess' hardest steel 
In tallow or in wax, 
To represent 

When necessary hangman's ax ; 
When Justice fair and strong 
Gets traded out for 

Harlot's pleasure song, 
Oh! just try to doubt 

Such fair exchange ; 
Go mad on this, though true and natural. 



MANKIND 17 

Then, laughing, they will you and others tell, 
Is this world an ideal ? 



Rush onward, life, 

Away from earthly skeletons 
Into eternal mystic choir. 
It fast consumes me, 

This suffocating fire. 

Condemned is the world 

From king to ass ; 
Condemned is all the human race. 
To-day will kill you he 
Who smiled only yesterday to thee. 

Good brother dear^ 
Canst thou lie and steal, 

And betray thy friendly host, 
Thou are'st here a welcome guest. 
Deceive, swear false, and flatter ; 
Put oil on fires instead of water ; 
Plunge daggers into the backbone of mankind ; 



18 MANKIND 

Have open ears for vile and slanderous talk ; 
Incite brother against his brother 
Till they have slain each other. 
Canst thou do this ? 

Then the world is thine. 

Sing and pray from heaven, 

The radiance of divine holiness 
Around thy worthy face. 

No doubt 

Thou must win the game, 
Because thou boldest four aces. 
The happy one is always he 
Who wins the races. 

Oh! who can give back to me 
The very day of first existence, 
When I was nothing to this globe, 
And served to please 

Another scope ? 



MANKIND 19 



When I traveled to and fro, 

On the storm, the water or the dew ; 

When wonderful planets passed by 

In endless variation — 

In grand transplendent sights — 

No tongue can justifj^ their rights. 



Wh^n in the ice-sea I was frozen, 
From year to year growing anew, 
Witnessed miraculous scenes. 
This home for me was chosen, 
Always busy, never resting. 
And in innocence enjoying, 
I was for curiosity 

In the light with sunbeams playing, 
Quick abfi^orbed with other vaporous nations, 
Slowly dragged away 

To wonderous revolutions. 



20 MANKIND 

Fire, lightning crashes and thundering 

Was heard. 
This was the serious moment ; 

I fell, 
Inclosed in a water-drop,. 

Down to the earth. 
There, in a humble plant, 

I mostly was impressed, 
Stored away among the greening grass, 
Without pleasures, 

Without distress. 
Myself not knowing, 

Every- morn and noon 
Woke up from sleep 

By the warming, loving sun. 
Then to the hills in youthful spring 
I lent my flowry dress. 
Till a chewing beast, bird or bee. 
Came at last to sw^allow me. 
This way I made, as feeding mush, 
My home in milk and blood. 



MANKIND 21 

1 



The human life began there and then, 

Which threw me this time. 

In a love-lust fever, 

On this earth in shape of man. 



To find perchance 

Companions here 
Who will make me master of society 

Or slave, 
Or cast me down 

As prisoner in dungeon cell, 
Make so this earthly paradise to me 
A heaven, a workshop 

Or a burning hell ; 
To follow up the smooth or rocky road 
To valleys, meadows, flats or hills, 
And before I die must meet all earthly good and 

sins 
In pay with fearful dreams, pains and ills. 



i 
22 MANKIND 1 



So I must, for a handful of pleasures 

Found in brief, 
Willingly suffer. One-half this world 
Full of misery and grief, 
Was it worth miraculous work 
To reach far down eternity 

And build me up, 
A living, whirling top, 

When hidden mystery held me up, 
To produce a wandering miracle ., 

Of mankind's real variety ? 



Hero ! Thou Supreme ! 

1 now commence to understand thy game ; 
But soon my time is winding up, 

When Thou dost free me 

From the earthly dreaming thoughts and fame 
And lettest me drop 

Down to happy moments of my back existence, 
Where I shall serve to Thee, 

Thou nameless spirit, myself unknown, 



MANKIND 



23 



Where from time to time 
I represent a different zone. 
Now the clock strikes twelve ; 
Time comes to an end. 
Divine Supreme, this Thou alone 

Dost grant. 




uiBRftRV OF COSmSii 










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